Principles over Party

Wednesday night Ted Cruz spoke at the Republican Convention in Cleveland. It was an amazing speech that highlighted core conservative values and principles. He spoke of supporting the police, defending the constitution, and what conservatives hold most dear: Liberty. He spoke in such a way that reminded me of the Great Communicator, Ronald Reagan. On any other night and in any other place, this would have been considered a great speech. Instead he was booed off the stage by the delegates on the convention floor. Trump supporters called him a rat. His wife, Heidi, had to be escorted from the convention floor for her safety. Why? Because Cruz failed to fully endorse the nominee, Donald Trump.
There are many people who are angry at Cruz for a variety of reasons. I am going to take my time to address these issues.
The Pledge
Many of those mad at Cruz are simply arguing the fact that Cruz signed and orally agreed to the pledge to endorse the Republican Nominee. This amplified the usage of Cruz’s nickname bestowed by Trump, “Lyin’ Ted”.
The Pledge was originally designed solely for Trump. Before the first debate many worried if Trump would run third party if he lost. He even said he would if he wasn’t treated fairly. So the GOP made every candidate sign the pledge and orally agree to it during the first republican debate on August 6, 2015. Trump didn’t sign it nor did he pledge his allegiance for the Republican Party when he was asked to in the beginning of the debate. The pledge was not for party unity. It was to make sure Trump would not ruin the GOP’s chances at winning the election. There is no reason to believe that Donald a Trump would not run as a Third Party candidate. From the beginning he warned of it and only affirmed his allegiance to the party after he took a lead in the polls.
On March 12 Cruz orally affirmed he would support the nominee no matter who it was. But only a couple weeks later Trump made several personal attacks on Cruz. Trump affiliated Cruz’s father with Lee Harvey Oswald. He spread rumors of Cruz having mistresses and that he would “spill the beans on Heidi”. This violates the unspoken rule of politics. Shortly after this Cruz backed out of the race and made no intention to support Donald Trump.
The morning after his controversial speech Wednesday night, Cruz said, “he isn’t in the habit of supporting people who attack his family.” Are you?
Party Unity

Many say we should cast aside our differences for this election. They say we have to unite behind Trump so we can stop Hillary. They say we have to throw away our principles for unity. And they reassure us it’s only for this election. That you can vote for your candidate next election. But none of this is sound reasoning. In 1976 the party unified behind Gerald Ford. The result: Jimmy Carter. In 2008 we unified behind John McCain. The result: Barack Obama. In 2012 it as Mitt Romney resulting in the same story as the election before. Party unity doesn’t guarantee the election will go your way. So why sacrifice your principles for it? People join a party because they have similar principles, not because the party must win so the other does not. They unite around principles, not a candidate. So throwing away your principles for the sake of not losing is indeed throwing away your party. Just look at the Democratic Party. It gone from JFK in 1960 to the cancer it is today. Why? Because it changed its principles over a period of time for the sake of stopping Republicans. Bill Clinton would be considered centre-left in today’s Democratic Party. So if we sacrifice our principles now, the Republican Party will be unrecognizable in 20 years. Recently Bernie Sanders was mocked by both sides for selling out to Hillary Clinton. So you would think that if someone stood up for their principles and didn’t sell out they would be praised. The exact opposite occurred. Cruz was insulted and his speech was called a “career ender”. Interesting times we live in. Lastly, the Donald. What reassures you that Donald will indeed do what he says? Is there any evidence except for his word? This man has only been a Republican for a few years. He changes his mind more times than Hillary Clinton. So, again what guarantees he will keep his word? Trump himself is a terrible candidate. He is unruly, undisciplined, and has no civil servants experience. Yes, he defied all odds in the Republican primary but he divided the party in the process. Also running for your party’s nominee is one thing, but running in the general election is something different entirely. Winning over Republicans with rhetoric is easy. Winning over Independents and Democrats is much harder especially when you are as disorderly as Donald. And what if his nationalistic polices end up wrecking the economy? What happens in 2020? Our principles will have been thrown away. Our Party won’t be the same. True Conservatism will be seen by the public as idiotic and dangerous.

This was written by P.L. who can also be found @_Southern_Conservative_ on Instagram. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily represent the rest of the writers or the blog as a whole.